1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a paint strainer, and more particularly to devices for forcing paint through a strainer to remove non-liquid lumps and impurities.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Previously known devices for straining lumps and particles from paint have relied entirely on the force of gravity to cause the paint being strained to flow through a perforate material. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 2,436,924 issued to E. F. Hansen on Mar. 2, 1948. The Hansen strainer is a rigid perforated member mountable on the rim of the paint can and extending over a fairly large portion of the can. The Hansen paint strainer is nondisposable and accordingly must be cleaned after each use.
Attempts have been made to provide a disposable straining element, as by using a piece of cloth for the straining element and mounting the cloth across the opening of a paint can, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,315,842 issued to A. Dariano on Apr. 6, 1943 and U.S. Pat. No. 1,994,335 issued to J. Churan on Mar. 12, 1935. While these straining elements may be discarded, and hence do not have to be cleaned, their supporting structures do and they must cover the entire opening of the paint can (Dariano) or at least a major portion thereof (Churan) in order to provide sufficient filtering area for the liquid paint to sink through the strainer element solely under the force of gravity.
A variation on the concept of straining paint (or varnish) through a cloth is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,590,572 issued to A. Fredette on June 29, 1926, this device being a separate cup adapted to hook over the rim of a can or the like and having a replaceable strainer cloth providing the bottom of the cup.